Award-winning Mathews Emt Favors Shadow Of Spotlight, Praising Peers

June 20, 1990|By MARK FELSENTHAL Staff Writer

MATHEWS — Clarence Minters is a reluctant hero, a man who would rather give credit to his colleagues than reflect on his own achievement.

Minters' fellow emergency rescue volunteers describe him as meticulous, calm, and above all, dedicated. But Minters, who was named national Emergency Medical Technician of the Year Saturday in Philadelphia, brushes off any discussion about himself or the award.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Friday, June 22, 1990. A comment by Jane Senyk, a spokeswoman for the Mathews Volunteer Rescue Squad, was incorrectly reported. She did not say that the National Emergency Medical Technician award won by Clarence Minters boosted rescue squad morale. She said the rescue squad's new squad room, where Minters spends much of his time, boosted morale.

"We really have to drag him to these awards programs," said Jane Wills, director of the Peninsulas Emergency Medical Services. "And when he gets there, he gives it all away, he thanks the rescue squad, the medical director. He's very unassuming and quiet."

Minters responded to questions about the national award, which follows honors at the state and local level in the last few years, with a "No comment." He referred inquiries to Wills and Jane Senyk, spokesman for the Mathews squad.

"He's extremely modest," said Brenda Weatherington, a volunteer, as she sat in the squad room near Mathews Court House with her two daughters Tuesday.

Weatherington and other volunteers lounging on the new furniture in the comfortable, light-filled room praised Minters and joked about his habits with the unabashedness of family members.

"See that sofa?" asked Weatherington. "That's his sofa because he sleeps on it so much. After he won the award, we put a banner over it that said `National Emergency Medical Technician of the Year Sofa.'"

The award to Minters is a big boost to squad morale, according to Senyk. As a result, volunteers congregate there even when they are not on duty. This saves precious time in emergency calls, since volunteers sometimes live 20 minutes from the rescue squad headquarters.

Minters, a Vietnam War veteran, practically lives there, according to Senyk.

Weatherington and another volunteer, Judy Ward, joked about the frozen dinners Minters keeps in the refrigerator, and his practice of sleeping with his boots on, a preparedness skill learned in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

"That makes him ready to go if a call's in," she said. "It's a habit that dates from the service."

Minters, who Ward said is single and lives in Cardinal with his father, works at the waste water treatment plant in Mathews.

He has a degree in biology from Virginia State University, his colleague said.

"His life is the rescue squad," she added with a laugh. "That and his foolish sanitation plant."

Although he is one of the best-trained members of the approximately 60-member squad, he won the national honor as much for his reliability and teamwork as for any particular instance of derring-do, according to Wills.

"A lot of emergency medical service people are not quiet unassuming people," she said. "They tend to be strong people, controlling people, they give lectures and go to conferences.

"But then we have people like Clarence, who are the real backbone of the system. He's not on the lecture circuit, he's not running to conferences. He's always on call, a true commitment to his community. When people need help, Clarence manages to get there."

Colleagues said Minters constantly reviews his training material and seeks further areas to study.

He is taking courses to help rescue workers who are under great stress, such as the recent flooding in Ohio, according to Wills. He encourages education of all kinds, Ward said.

"He really helped me with my science," said Weatherington's 15-year-old daughter, Michelle. "I don't know how I would have made it through if not for him."

Minters gave a friend of hers $50 as a graduation present, she said.

Minters donated the $1,000 he was given for the national honor to a scholarship fund in the name of one of his former teachers at Mathews High School, according to Ward.